We have all heard “Be Careful What You Wish For.” This is because it is believed that “thoughts become things.” Yet what you may not have stopped to think is “how….”
People who feel chronic overwhelm cannot think their way out of it.
This is because you are not your thoughts.
If thoughts alone are not enough, what is required to get out of overwhelm, or any other systematic change? Mindset. It comes down to choosing a mindset that will support you getting the results you desire.
Mindset is often transparent to us. We often believe “that is just the way things are.” Until you shift your mindset that IS just the way things are. Change your mindset, and the behaviors available to you are now different. So will be the results.
So the first step of the OVERWHELM DE-CONSTRUCT FORMULA is:
- Acknowledge what is; FEEL the feeling.
- Pick one challenge or situation that contributes to overwhelm; take 100% responsibility for it.
- Reflect on a behavior that you need to take in order to change the situation.
- What mindset will support you doing that?
- Change the mindset to a new one that will support the behavior you need to produce the desired result.
Here is a real client example from someone in overwhelm.
She identifies that the situation that contributes to overwhelm is her over-commitment to volunteer activities. She assesses these will build her business through engagement which hasn’t yet happened. She determines that she needs to pull-back from extensive commitments, and structure those that she has to be more time-limited. The mindset that supports the behavior is that she is responsible for her commitments, and she does so by being mindful of how they support her business and personal goals. As a results, she is now poised to exit from chronic overwhelm.
Start small so you can have an immediate success. Practice working your way through the challenges that put you into overwhelm, one at a time. You will be on your way to breaking free and truly being the leader in your life and in your world.
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